by Cathy Shutaya
Chabad’s annual ‘Sukkah Hop’ has, for the last few years, been branded as one of the most fun events of the school year and one of my personal favorites. This year was no different. Sukkah hop successfully brings together Jewish students of various campus clubs and organizations including Chabad, Hillel, Anteaters for Israel, AEPi, AEPhi, and even attracts Jewish alumni students who come back to reminisce their crazy college days. We venture out on a school bus of approximately 40 people to meet up with students from Cal State Long Beach, at which point we all join to celebrate what Sukkot is all about—being together. Students ‘hop’ from one sukkah to another, filling up on tasty snacks, drinking a beer or two (students of age 21+, of course), and finishing up with a delicious falafel dinner and rocking out to live music. For some, this may be reminiscent of their own identity-reawakening experiences in Israel (as many students have already been on programs like Birthright).
Even with a midterm the following day, I couldn’t pass up on my favorite celebration of the fall quarter (luckily the midterm didn’t turn out to be worth studying for)…but that was a risk I was willing to take and hey, isn’t that what college is all about?
Chabad sure knows how to throw a party, and as one UC Irvine student put it, “we hop hard”. I look forward to more hops in the years to come!